Lend-Lease turned the US into the 'Arsenal of Democracy'-here's what that meant.

"Lend-Lease (sometimes called Lease-Lend) was a programme of financial and material aid given by the United States to its allies during the Second World War (1939-45). Food, weapons, ammunition, and agricultural equipment were amongst the goods which crossed the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The value of Lend-Lease goods has been estimated at around $50 billion. Payment was expected from the recipient states, although there was flexibility on how much, in what form, and when this was to be given."

"Giving material aid to participants in a war had been prohibited by the mid-1930s Neutrality Acts. Even loans were restricted by the Johnson Debt-Default Act, which excluded those nations that had not paid back the money lent during the First World War (1914-18). This was a heavy restriction because the only country which had paid off all of its debts to the US was Finland."

Lend-Lease supplied food, weapons, ammunition, and agricultural equipment from the United States to Allied nations during World War II, with an estimated value near $50 billion. Recipient states were expected to provide payment, but terms and timing were flexible. Legal barriers such as the mid-1930s Neutrality Acts and the Johnson Debt-Default Act initially restricted aid and loans. President Franklin D. Roosevelt pursued legislative changes that allowed Britain and France to buy arms for cash and permitted U.S. merchant ships to enter war zones carrying military cargo. The programme became a vast logistical operation that significantly strengthened the Allied war effort while limiting U.S. battlefield involvement.

Read at World History Encyclopedia